Originally a modest brownstone, the Tilden residence evolved over twenty-one years (1863-1884) into a grand mansion. Its Victorian Gothic façade is the most elegant on Gramercy Park. The interior is a resplendent mix of the original Renaissance Revival styling blended with the later Aesthetic Movement design by Calvert Vaux. Sadly, after its completion, Samuel Tilden lived only two more years until his death in 1886.
In this illustrated lecture, Dr. Eugene Weise, co-chair of the House Committee, will reprise his lecture of last June and explore the architectural idiosyncrasies and secrets of the mansion. He will delve into the lives of its nineteenth-century occupants and examine the surprising alterations made by The National Arts Club in 1906. The facts have been garnered from the Tilden family, the Tilden Archives at the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian, and from 170-year-old clues left behind in the fifty rooms, which we now enjoy as The National Arts Club.